Jeff's Journey

Hi, my name is Kirsten Kish. I am creating this page for my parents, Jeff and Connie Young. Two of the most selfless people I know, who have been through so much throughout their 25 years of marriage. My dad has a condition called Alport's syndrome which affects the kidneys, which caused him to have two kidney transplants. From any transplant, you must be on anti rejection medication to make sure the kidneys will work.

Unfortunately, because of the medication he was on years ago, it has led to skin cancer, multiple times. Since 2013, dad has had 3 major surgeries on his mouth. All teeth were removed, along with part of his cheekbone/jaw, and the roof of his mouth. Two years ago, almost to the exact date, he had surgery to fix the roof of his mouth and reconstruct it, taking skin grafts from his leg and arm to make the graft.

On January 6th, my dad had yet another surgery to get more cancer out. The surgery was bit more involved than they thought (also was 12 hours long), having to take more skin and bone to remove more cancer they found while they were in there during the surgery. They did take part of the bone in his leg to make a new portion of his jaw, and also some skin to reshape the lip. The following day after the surgery, they did go back in to "rewire" some of the blood vessels in the lip that were not healing correctly. He has been in recovery since, but now the surgeons are not liking the way the tissue surrounding his lip is healing. So more than likely there will be another surgery to fix that on Friday, January 21st.

The reason I am making this long post is to share just a portion of what my parents and our family has been through. Cancer is not easy for anyone to to go through, and dad has always had such a great attitude about life and about this journey.

My mom, Connie, has been off work for the last two weeks (the original length of time dad was supposed to be in the hospital), and will probably have to be off even longer than planned. I am hoping to raise some money for not only some of their medical expenses, but also just gas money. She drives down to the hospital every day, and gas is not cheap.

They are the most selfless people I know, and they would never ask for any help. So if there is anything you can donate, thank you. If not, that's perfectly okay, even just a message is great! I know the both of them would love to see all the support they have. This fight is not over, and it will come back again. But Jeff Young is a fighter and we all love him so much.

Anyone who is interested in sending gifts or cards, please contact me via email for the address.

[email redacted]